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Projects
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Digging for conservation victory in south-west Uganda
Echuya! It may sound like a sneeze but is actually a beautiful, 34 km2, montane tropical forest and Important Bird Area situated in the south-west corner of Uganda, near the spectacular Virunga volcanoes chain. The forest harbours many endemic and globally threatened species, including birds such as the Endangered Grauer's swamp-warbler, Bradypterus graueri, and Near Threatened Kivu ground-thrush, Zoothera tanganjicae. However, Echuya is is rapidly being degraded by the local Bachiga and Bafumbira farming communities, as well as some 900 Batwa or 'pygmies', who are over-harvesting the forest products such as firewood, timber, bamboo poles and medicinal plants on which they depend for their incomes. Since July 2004, the RSPB has therefore been implementing the Echuya Forest Conservation Project in collaboration with its Ugandan BirdLife Partner, NatureUganda to safeguard the future of the forest. We have three ways of achieving this aim:
The main funding is £350,000 provided over five years by the Civil Society Challenge Fund of the UK's Department for International Development (DfID). We are working with Uganda's National Forestry Authority (NFA), who manage Echuya Central Forest Reserve, to develop Collaborative Forest Management agreements. These will allow villagers to use forest resources sustainably under self-policing harvesting regimes, with acceptable off-take levels determined through ecological research. Taking actionThe project has planted over 100,000 tree and bamboo seedlings around the forest to provide alternative sources of fuelwood and poles. We have dug erosion control trenches for soil conservation on the steep hillsides to maintain soil productivity, and trained villagers in income generating activities such as cultivating mushrooms, growing passion fruits and bee-keeping. In order to ensure sustainability after the project ends, all these activities are undertaken by local people themselves in close collaboration with the District Local Governments of Kabale and Kisoro in which Echuya Forest lies. Starting in 2006, the project has also begun training farmers in organic agricultural techniques using trainers provided by the Kulika Charitable Trust Uganda. The aim is to reduce farmers' reliance on artificial and expensive pesticides and fertilizers, and improve their yields, health and incomes. we are ultimately hoping to ensure the long-term conservation of Echuya Forest and its remarkable biodiversity for current and future generations Farmers are taught in a six-week course, spending one week in a residential centre each month for six months. The Kulika programme teaches compost-making and its use in vegetable growing; production and use of liquid manure or 'plant tea'; production of home-made organic pesticides (using for example orange peel); trench compost and kitchen gardens; and small livestock keeping (chickens and rabbits). Participants are also taught about nutrition, sanitation, and how to construct fuel-efficient wood-burning stoves and pit latrines. An unusual feature of the training is that in the three weeks between each residential session participants are visited on their own farms by the Kulika trainers to encourage them to put into practice what they have learned. Farmers trained by Kulika are expected to pass on their new skills to their neighbours, and a recent review has demonstrated that sustainable organic agriculture practices have been picked up on a number of farms. By this three-pronged approach: reducing demand for forest products; providing alternative income sources; and regulating sustainable harvesting; we are ultimately hoping to ensure the long-term conservation of Echuya Forest and its remarkable biodiversity for current and future generations. Last modified: 13 April 2007 | Related websites |
Minsmere RSPB Reserve, general view of Boomacre Mere - David Tipling (rspb-images.com)
Hummingbird hawkmoth - Steve Round
Tree sparrow perched on branch in woodland - Sue Tranter (rspb-images.com, Ref: 1018091)